Josh Shaw celebrates his grand slam with his St. John's teammates.
St. John’s Wins 2018 #BIGEASTBase Championship Title With 7-0 Win Over Seton Hall
Red Storm lefty pitcher Jeff Belge earns MOP honors with a two-hit, eight inning, shutout championship victory.
No. 1 St. John's 7, No. 2 Seton Hall 0 (PDF)
MASON, Ohio – Top seed St. John’s rallied from a 19-2 loss in game six with a seven-run shutout performance in game seven to win a BIG EAST record ninth tournament title. The Jack Kaiser Award for Most Outstanding Player went to St. John’s starting pitcher Jeff Belge, who had a standout performance in the decisive game giving up just two hits in 8.0 innings.
Sophomore lefty Belge (6-3) had a no-hitter through six full innings at Prasco Park. He struck out nine of the 29 batters he faced.
St. John’s outhit Seton Hall 12 to two. All seven of St. John’s runs were scored on two-out hits.
With the win in the 2018 BIG EAST Baseball Championship Presented by Jeep, St. John’s (39-15) earned the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA Championship. The selection show will air on ESPN2 at 12 p.m. on Monday, May 28. Regional host sites will be announced on Sunday, May 27 at 8:30 p.m. ET via ESPN Networks’ bottom line and on
www.ncaa.com/cws.
Belge protected a 1-0 lead through five innings, before St. John’s added two more runs in the fifth when Anthony Brocato hit a two-RBI double to right field scoring Luke Stampfl and Josh Shaw. Shaw widened the gap with a two-out grand slam in the sixth that went way over the left center field wall. Shaw finished the game 3-for-3 with two runs scored. Stampfl went 2-for-4. Both joined Belge on the all-tournament team.
Seton Hall broke Belge’s no-no in the seventh with a Ryan Ramiz leadoff single. St. John’s was able to clear the bases with a double play at the next at bat. The final out was a called strikeout.
The Pirates, who were the championship’s runners-up for the fifth time, had runners in scoring position in the third inning as Belge had walked Tyler Shedler-McAvoy, the inning’s second batter. Shedler-McAvoy advanced to second on a passed ball and the next batter, Christiano Del Castillo walked. Rob Dadona, Seton Hall’s leadoff hitter, got on base on a rare error by John Valente and the Del Castillo and Shedler-McAvoy advanced to load the bases. Belge got out of the inning striking out Sebastian Santorelli and Al Molina hitting a long fly ball to center field.
Santorelli and Ramiz earned the only hits for the Pirates in game seven.
St. John’s closer Gavin Hollowell came in to pitch the ninth after the Belge allowed a leadoff hit. Hollowell faced just two batters as Molina hit into a double play and catcher Mike Alescio grounded out.
Seton Hall played five games in the tournament, playing out of the losers’ bracket and winning championship Sunday’s game six. It was the most games played by a team since St. John’s played five games in 2011, ironically, the last time Seton Hall won a tournament title – which was against St. John’s, 4-2.
This was St. John’s second championship in five years. Only St. John’s and Xavier have won the BIG EAST Baseball Championship since the league’s realignment in 2014.
2018 BIG EAST Baseball Championship All-Tournament Team
Ryan Pepiot, Butler, So., RHP
Andrew Politi, Seton Hall, R-Jr., RHP
Jeff Belge, St. John’s, So., LHP
Al Molina, Seton Hall, Sr., SS
Luke Stampfl, St. John’s, Grad., 1B
Matt Toke, Seton Hall, So., 1B
Josh Shaw, St. John’s, Jr., 2B
Michael DeRenzi, Georgetown, Sr., OF
Gehrig Parker, Butler, Sr., OF
Jamie Galazin, St. John’s, Sr., OF
Mike Alescio, Seton Hall, Sr., C
Jack Kaiser Most Outstanding Player:
Jeff Belge, St. John’s, So., LHP